Meet Felipe
Felipe is a male budgerigar that calls a cage in our house home. He was originally from Australia but he found his way into a pet store in Dublin. Felipe is aging and is finding less and less enrichment in his time living at our home. Because of this, Felipe needs an enriching and changing dwelling that can help him become
playful and free again.
playful and free again.
Initial Research and Sketches
To begin my process of creating a birdhouse for pet budgerigars, I began to learn about their day-to-day habits and study them visually through quick sketches. As I learned more about their habitat and way of life, I began to move towards a modular house inspired by their original home in the woodlands of Australia.
3d Models
As I moved towards the final design, I focused on having a modular system in which different "branches" could be moved in any orientation on the birdhouse. The ability to remove, add, and change the aspects of the birdhouse allows for additional toys and enriched interest in the birdhouse itself. This was done on Fusion 360.
Cutting Diagrams
To physically prototype Felipe's Funhouse, a basic shape was created in relation to the shape of the holes budgerigars would create nests in. This shape was then repeated and cut in two different ways to created a layered base for the birdhouse with areas that were both closed and open. This was all created with 1/4" and 3/4" baltic birch plywood.
Final Prototype
As budgerigars were forced out of their native land of Australia for pet trade, one ultimately landed into our home. Taken away from their natural habitat in open woodlands, they were forced into man made cages and structures, conforming to whatever their owner thought best for them. They were no longer free. The birdhouse created for Felipe will factor in his mental and physical health to create a “bird playground” that is an ode to his natural habitat. The wooden structure of the bird house is able to flip in any orientation and the shifting modular “branches” around it is a remnant of the open woodlands of Australia. The branches themselves mirror the budgerigar’s vocal pattern as they are modularly formed to their sound waves. Constricted with rectangular rooms and cages, Felipe will finally have access to change and enrichment in "Felipe's Funhouse". While birds were once free to roam, the growing pet industry has forced birds into a human environment. As humans taking part in this trade, we can try to bring back the lives that these budgerigars had stolen from them.